that bipartisan agreement for gun reform is a joke

[drray23]

It's money for school security and mental health treatments . It's also money grants to encourage states to pass red flag laws .

That is completely unacceptable . All it does is give cover to the gop for the upcoming elections. Heck it even reinforces their talking points about the fact its all about mental health and fortifying schools. They will be able to claim they did something when in fact none of these measures address the problem effectively.
Why is it that every time we cut a bipartisan deal it's always biased towards the gop ?

[gab13by13]

1. Why? Right now it's because of the Senate.

Not going to get shit needing 60 votes.

[drray23]

2. I know why but going for a bill like that

is worse than not passing anything and keeping the pressure.

[BarackTheVote]

6. And if you don't pass it

then Republicans will just go on TV and say Democrats obstructed gun reform, and they’ll get away with it unchallenged, too.

[BarackTheVote]

3. Because

we win by getting shit done. Republicans win by letting things fall apart. What incentive is there for Republicans, passing things that make government look good?

We need more Democrats in the Senate, that’s all there is to it.

[dem4decades]

7. Is the shit we're getting done here making Republicans look good?

They got what they want, did we get anything we want?

[BarackTheVote]

11. I mean

what the Republicans WANTED was to do absolutely nothing. Any little tiny obstruction to buying a gun is a loss for them. You can guarantee they don’t want to spend a single red penny on mental health, either. So, yeah, we wrang a couple drops of blood from a stone here.

Real impact, this legislation probably won’t save too many lives. But a few lives saved is something, and if this legislation IS looked upon favorably, we’re still the majority party and will get the win.

Thing is, if this legislation by some miracle does a lot, then it’s a win for the Democrats and for America and humanity as a whole. But, seriously, tragically, this probably won’t make a dent in the carnage we’ve been seeing; it’s not like there won’t continue to be outrageous acts of violence to keep gun control at the forefront of the conversation.

But here, Republicans have basically expended their whole wad of ideas, and eventually, they’ll be forced to either say “fuck you all,” which probably will remain an unpopular position, or they’ll have to cave to increasingly stricter gun control.

[markpkessinger]

20. You are easily fooled . . .

. . . Republicans and Democrats alike were under pressure to do something, so politically, doing nothing was really not an option. So they refused to budge until all that was left were two watered-down provisions that will do absolutely nothing. Democrats were, once again, outplayed by Republicans, because they were too eager to do something.

[BarackTheVote]

31. The way I see it

You can either leverage your victory, as slight as it is, because if this passes Congress, then President Biden WILL sign into law the most sweeping gun reform measure in decades.

OR you can push the Right Wing talking point that Democrats are weak and ineffectual, depress the midterm turn-out, and ensure that not only are there no further gains, but what gains we’ve made on a whole variety of issues get wiped out as a result of our loss.

I’ll take the W and press for more, thank you very much.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Republicans are happy when money flows their way

Spend on security technology to stop shootings but not to stop gun sales. More money for business profits in two way there.

Mental health treatment? More profits for health care companies.

I'd say Republicans are very happy their portfolios are being juiced.

[dchill]

5. WTF did anyone expect?

[onecaliberal]

9. It's sad but I knew republicans were not serious.

I hope people are paying attention.

[msongs]

10. am expecting a reward republicans PR effort nt

[markpkessinger]

12. Some are calling it a "first step" . . .

. . . The problem, of course, is that it isn't a "first step" towards anything. For the foreseeable future, this is where the conversation will end. You won't get Republicans to the table again on this issue for at least a decade.

And worse is that since the measures in this bill are unlikely to have any discernible impact on the rate of gun violence in this country, the gun lobby will seize upon that lack of measurable effect as proof that regulation cannot work.

This "deal" came about solely because Democrats ceded on every potentially meaningful measure they originally wanted (and knew we needed), and Republicans would only agree to things the gun lobby wouldn't object to.

This so-called "deal" represents a total, bipartisan failure of the Senate to address the problem of gun violence and mass shootings -- and a total victory7 for the gun lobby. And I have a LOT of trouble with Senate Democrats like Murphy who are congratulating themselves on it!

[SYFROYH]

13. It's perfectly acceptable. Its a few steps in the right directly.

You failed to mention the expanded background check info with juvenile records which is something.

Progress is important.

[H2O Man]

14. +1

[BarackTheVote]

15. Agreed

With the filibuster and 50 Republicans, anything is SOMETHING.

Posts like the OP’s are really good at depressing Dem midterm turn-out, though, which is less good. Very bad, in fact.

Watch your messaging. Anything we get done is a victory for us, anything the Republicans make us concede that makes the country less safe is a loss for them. Always.

[markpkessinger]

16. The old asiom of "something is better than nothing" isn't always true in politics

By being too eager to get something, what we've arrived at is a couple of provisions that will likely have no discernible impact on gun violence or mass shootings, and that lack of measurable effect will be then seized upon by gun advocates as proof that gun regulations don't work. In the meantime, what we've also managed to do is to take the political pressure off of Republicans to do anything that would actually be meaningful. And you won't get Republicans to the table again on this issue for at least a decade.

This is how something can actually be worse than nothing.

[SYFROYH]

25. There hasn't been ANYTHING on the table for nearly 9 years (Sandy Hook)

We went big with a new AWB and universal background checks and a couple of other things and we whiffed. Total strikeout, and then nothing until this moment.

You say the Republicans wont be back for ten years after some small steps forward, but it has been nearly been ten years since we struck out swinging for the bleachers.

So no, I reject your theory and will take the wins now.

[Amishman]

17. Juvenile information being included in background checks is significant

And honestly more than I expected

[Raine]

26. Agree nt

[Beastly Boy]

18. I'll take it anyway.

-Raising minimum age to 21.
-Swlective background checks
-Penalties for straw purchasing
-Keeps guns away from domestic violence abusers.

No joke.

Incrementalism is a friend. The alternative is getting nothing.

[WarGamer]

24. It doesn't raise the age to 21.

[Polybius]

27. What's straw purchasing mean?

[Beastly Boy]

28. A straw purchase is when someone buys a gun for someone else

who is for one reason or another not qualified to make a purchase himself. For instance, an adult buying a gun for someone under 18 years old.

[markpkessinger]

19. It is bipartisan ONLY because Democrats acquiesced completely to Republicans n/t

[Fla_Democrat]

21. if there's just one life we can save,

"No law or set of laws can keep our children completely safe. But if there’s even one thing we can do, if there's just one life we can save, we've got an obligation to try."

[NickB79]

22. Red flag laws are a joke? School security is a joke?

In what damn world?

Even IF we reauthorized the Assault Weapon Ban, that still leaves millions of guns in circulation. It still leaves handguns and shotguns legal.

As another poster here said a while ago, we didn't get 400 million guns in circulation overnight, and we won't get rid of them overnight. Even in a best-case scenario, red flag laws and school security will be needed for decades to come. Without getting rid of the filibuster AND getting a few Republicans to switch sides, this is literally the best we can get. Anyone who thinks we can pressure any of the GOP to vote for gun control are fooling themselves. They've dug in their heels, and don't give a damn about how they look to the public anymore.

So take what we can get, save lives where we can, campaign on it to get more Dems elected, and keep working at it next year.

[CrackityJones75]

29. I was called all sorts of things when I applauded safety measures.

Apparently applauding school safety measure means you don’t want gun legislation and enacting safety measures means that gun legislation cannot happen. Apparently making schools safer is a bad thing because not enough kids will die yo prompt people to demand gun legislation.

This is what I read here. It is absolutely insane.

[drray23]

33. that bill does not enact red flag laws.

instead it sets grants to states to encourage them to do so. Good luck having states like Texas do it.

[NickB79]

34. Yes, it bribes states instead of mandates them to enact red flag laws

And that's the best we can get right now. A proposal to require red flag laws would get this bill canned in the Senate, because we can't override a filibuster, and then we have no new states with red flag laws.

[WarGamer]

23. After it's signed into law... it still has to make it past Court challenges.

The enhanced background checks for 18-21 year olds will come under scrutiny.

California just had it's 21 year age requirement shot down by the 9th Circuit.

If the enhanced background checks delay the sale because it takes more time than a NIC check... there will be issues in Court.

[sarisataka]

30. Very recently

Like last week the demand was to do SOMETHING. We were tired of Congress doing nothing.

Now when it looks like they are willing to do something, we would rather they do nothing...

[betsuni]

32. Exactly what I was just thinking.

[Mad_Machine76]

35. We don't have the votes to pass anything (on our own)

and the GOP only needs one Senator to sink EVERYTHING.